Adaptation amid Emergencies by Farming Households in Ondo State, Nigeria

Attaining and sustaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 is still of primary concern to developing nations; hence, it has largely been responsible for its policies and programs. The agricultural sector is identified as a common thread that holds the SDGs together, and it is considered potent for economic recovery and social transformation. However, the trend of emergencies such as banditry, farmers/herders’ conflict, kidnapping, health, climate change, etc. as lately being experienced in Africa and of importance Nigeria demand a paradigm shift in the approaches to achieving the SDGs and ensuring sustainable livelihood options. The study was carried out in Ondo State, Nigeria, to access coping and adaptive strategies deployed by farming households amid global emergencies. It deployed the use of both qualitative and quantitative data-gathering methodology to elicit information from a total of 126 sampled farming households across the state. The study affirmed that the perceived effect of global emergencies on their livelihood activities is high (62.0%). It identified value addition ( \( \overline{\mathrm{x}} \)  = 1.76), efficient use of resources ( \( \overline{\mathrm{x}} \)  = 1.72), diversification of income generation source ( \( \overline{\mathrm{x}} \)  = 1.67), and adjusting lifestyles ( \( \overline{\mathrm{x}} \)  = 1.57) as specific coping and adaptive strategies deployed by farming households amid global emergencies. Furthermore, the efficacy of the coping and adaptive strategies in response to global emergencies was high (67.0%). The study recommends that the strategies that are significant to subnational level, community specific, and have comparative and competitive advantage for farming households should be sustained and accorded investment priority in a bid to have far-reaching impact.